Known call centers typically utilize a large number of calling/sales agents at a single locale, each connected to a common, computerized system. The computerized system generates a series of outgoing calls, and directs these outgoing calls to one of the calling/sales agents (thereby acting as an incoming call to these calling/sales agents) when a real person answers the initial outgoing call made by the computerized system.
In this vein, document US2010210249 consists of a personal call center that can schedule calls for a user (i.e., a calling/sales agent), make the call at the scheduled time and connect to the user when the other party answers, making calls completely “hands-free” and transparent to the user. In essence, the system coordinates the outgoing calls and selectively connects these outgoing calls to one of the calling/sales agents to act as an incoming call, when and if the other party answers. Advantageously, the system can also be used by an administrator or a centralized call center to schedule the calls for a user or group of users. In this way, the managers or the call centers can schedule calls, between salespersons and customers.
In addition, document US2002035647 refers to the coordination of the information in the level based on the network between call centers connectable via a telecommunications network, such as the telephone network, and a network of packets, such as the Internet, creating better integration of and union between the interaction of a customer with a website and with a call center. Information about the customer and the customer's Web interaction are delivered to the call center's agent along with the call, leading to greater productivity and efficiency in the management of calls, and improved call routing. Calls can be sent to existing call centers based on information from the information of the experience on the Web, and the information of the user's Web interaction is shared with the call center.
Furthermore, there is also document US2007041551, which consists of a call management method in a call center service that informs and includes the followup of a series of calls that are received at the call service center. In addition, the method includes the transactions of surveillance services that are handled by a plurality of customer service agents. The method also includes the determination of a metric of the sales success of each of the plurality of customer service agents for each one of a plurality of offers of services and the classification of the customer service agents in terms of the success of the metric service for each of the plurality of the offer of services. In addition, the method includes the recording of the classification of customer service agents for each of the offers of services.
For its part, document US2007121905 provides a method and a device for carrying out telephone campaigns. By and large, unsuccessful calls to customers represent the biggest cost factor of telephone campaigns which the centers need to overcome. Apart from the costs of an occupied unsuccessful dialer, the costs of the connection fees are also evident, for example, in the case of connections that are immediately cut off again, or connections to answering machines. The method and the device provided herein improve the efficiency of telephone campaigns and saves resources in that the totality of the customers is no longer run through cyclically as a whole, but is divided into partial packets for central control. These partial packets are then simply run through for an established period of operation to conduct telephone campaigns, in particular advertising and sales campaigns.
Thus, as will be appreciated, these known systems incur great overhead and operational costs, as the calling/sales agents that are connected to the computer-aided controller are in the same geographical location, thereby requiring physical space, environmental controls and conditions and all the associated costs of supporting typically large numbers of calling/sales agents. Moreover, as typical calling/sales agents are only connected to the outgoing calls when a real person answers the outgoing calls, there is no ability for the calling/sales agents to increase the efficiency of the system as a whole.
The present invention therefore seeks to overcome these deficiencies by enabling large numbers of calling/sales agents to each be geographically, remotely located from the computer-aided control system of the call center, as well as from one another, while also permitting the real-time feedback of the calling/sales agents even in cases where a real person does not answer the initial outgoing call, thereby increasing the efficiency of the overall system. The present remote call center system may of course be utilized for any type of campaign, particularly campaigns for advertising, sales, debt collections, surveys, election campaigns, and the like.